THE government should guide the operation of school buses and spend money on the vehicles, an MPC deputy said in his proposal to the annual session of the city’s legislature.

    In the proposal on the establishment of a school bus operation group, Lin Tianfa said the drawbacks in the existing school bus management system had put students at risk and posed a threat to their safety.

    The government should establish a school bus management mechanism which is operated by private companies and managed by professional teams.

    It is a huge investment, considering the city needs 4,000 buses to transport 100,000 students every day. But Lin thought Shenzhen’s budget could bear the expenses once the decision was made.

    “In Deqing City, Zhejiang Province, the government purchased 79 school buses for 20 million yuan (US$3.17 million) and offers 4 million yuan in subsidies a year. In 2011, its education expense was 300 million yuan, and the expenditure on school buses was only 0.8 percent of expenditure on education,” Lin said.

    Recently, Chongqing put into operation its first school bus company and the government will replace all current school buses within three years.

    Xu Wei, spokesman of the Shenzhen traffic police bureau, said Shenzhen school buses are managed by schools, education bureaus and traffic police bureaus. It is necessary to establish a company to centralize the management and operation of school buses to reduce risks.

    “In Shenzhen, it is geographically and financially sensible to operate school buses like regular public buses as most schools are located in prime locations, either in downtown areas or townships,” said Xu.

    Xu said the city’s transport commission is considering establishing a school bus company. Parents hope the government could subsidize school buses when the bus company is put into operation.

    (Han Ximin)